New Beginnings
by jg16395
Summary: Romana has made the hardest choice of her lives - to risk returning to Gallifrey. But will unforeseen circumstances give her and the Doctor the chance to continue travelling? And will the Doctor take that chance? Will the two Time Lords be prepared for the worst? It is now the moment for a New Beginning... A/N; Don't own Doctor Who - I hope you've got that message by now!
1. Prologue

Prologue

**The** Doctor, Romana and Adric were heading back towards the TARDIS, with Lazlo close behind them – Romana in deep inner turmoil. She didn't want to leave the Doctor, not now after all this Time, but she knew that the Time Lords would punish her if she didn't return to Gallifrey. But she also didn't want to go back to those ancient, dusty, indolent Senators; a life of politics was never going to satisfy her – that was part of the reason she'd been excited to carry out the Search for the Key to Time.

She was confronted with two terrible choices; leave the Doctor now to help the Tharils liberate themselves, or leave him now to be sucked back into a tedious life of Gallifreyan politics. Either course of action would mean saying goodbye to the most incredible Time Lord ever known – and there was no denying it now; she'd told him when they'd arrived in E-Space. But Romana didn't know which would be taking the easy way out.

She _could_ try and persuade the Doctor to keep running, like he had always done. But the question remained – did he have the guts to do so? Had the Time Lords put him through so much that he didn't have the heart to make a stand against them anymore? Was he truly prepared to give up now, of all times?

"Get inside," the Doctor instructed both Romana and Adric, the latter not needing to be told twice. But Romana hesitated. The Tharils needed her to help them.

_But is it my knowledge of Temporal Mechanics that they need?_ She wondered. _If so, then..._

"Doctor," Romana spoke up, "could you give me K-9?"

"Whatever for, Romana?" questioned the Doctor suspiciously.

Romana just turned and inclined her head towards their Tharil friend. As she did so, she locked eyes with Lazlo – and after a few moments, he indicated his understanding. The Doctor had evidently caught on as well, so he handed K-9 to Lazlo.

"K-9 has the information you need," Romana told him. "If you get him working again, he can help you..."

Lazlo nodded, and Romana headed into the TARDIS, sorrow threatening to overcome her. She _couldn't_ go back to the Time Lords! She didn't belong with them...

*DW*

**After** the Doctor had entered and subsequently dematerialised the TARDIS, he could only look into Romana's eyes...and he could see the tears building in them. How could he let the Time Lords take her away now? If they had known _anything_ about Romana, they would have known by now that she didn't take orders from _anyone._ _What gives the indolent idiots the right to decide her destiny?_ He thought contemptuously.

But he couldn't decide her path for her either – he had learnt that very quickly and without difficulty. Yet the Time Lords had the nerve to try! They were supposed to be Lords of _Time,_ not Lords of Fate or Destiny.

"Doctor, please!" Romana broke into his train of thought, the tears now cascading. "I can't go back! I don't belong with them anymore! I haven't since we first started travelling together! Don't make me go!" Her plea was now a desperate one. But the Doctor couldn't answer. He was too embroiled in his own frustrations with the Time Lords who put both him _and_ Romana through this.

Romana evidently decided that she wouldn't get a word out of him, so she made for her room. It was clear that he wasn't prepared to fight the Time Lords again. _What did they do to him?_ She thought tearfully. _If I knew..._

But she had the feeling that she wouldn't be able to get that out of him – he was too stubborn...too sealed off...too compartmentalised. It was now that Romana realised why the Doctor saw so much in Humanity – Humans possessed more courage than most Time Lords of the Rassilon Era could ever hope to have. However, the rebellious streak the Doctor possessed seemed to have been crushed. This was it...this was the end of Romana's life with the most incredible Time Lord the Universe has ever known...


	2. Summoned by the Keeper

Summoned by the Keeper

**"So,** this is N-Space?" asked Adric. This was a totally new experience for him – he was now in a completely different Universe.

"Yes...the old home Universe," confirmed the Doctor. "It's many times larger than anything _you're_ used to." They began a conversation about their current surroundings in N-Space, which eventually brought them to the Law of Probability.

"I don't see what the Law of Probability has to do with it," Adric told the Doctor, confused as to why he'd brought it up.

"What?!" exclaimed the Doctor, as if Adric had mortally offended him. "Adric...I give you the opportunity to travel with me, yes?"

"Yes," Adric answered uncertainly.

"To open your mind to worlds _beyond_ imagining, YES?" the Doctor questioned the boy.

"Yes..."

"And you criticize my logic?"

_"No_..." Adric proceeded to correct him. "It's just that, a lot of the Time, you don't really talk sense!"

"You've noticed, have you?" asked a voice from behind the door to the Corridors – a voice that belonged to Romana. She was smiling – but it was a hollow smile, a smile one would put on to mask inner stress.

"Well, anyone can talk sense," the Doctor said dismissively. "But as long as that's understood, Adric and I are going to get along perfectly." Romana just snorted derisively. "What?" No answer. "Romana, if you have something to say, then say it!" he snapped.

This only set Romana's Anger Mode off. "I'm about to leave, and you can't even be bothered to stand up to the Time Lords?!" she snarled bitterly.

"I'VE TOLD YOU BEFORE – YOU CAN'T FIGHT TIME LORDS AND EXPECT TO COME OUT ON TOP!" the Doctor shouted, frustrated that she just wouldn't drop the subject. He had thought that _this_ conversation was closed – but apparently not.

"AND WHEN DID YOU FIRST START BELIEVING THAT, DOCTOR?!" Romana yelled angrily. "WAS THAT BEFORE OR AFTER YOU WERE EXILED?!"

"DROP IT!" he spat, incensed at her nerve. The story of his forced regeneration and exile to Earth was an immensely personal matter for him. It was low of her to bring _that_ into the conversation now.

But she refused to back down. "I. CAN'T. DROP. IT!" she screeched in hysterical anger. But when she spoke again, she choked the words out, tears once again streaking down her cheeks. "I could forgive you most things, Doctor...but not this. I could never forgive you for condemning me to a life that I _refuse_ to live." When the Doctor didn't speak, Romana continued. "I might have got a Triple First, but I hated every second I can remember spending at the Academy, Doctor! The White Guardian gave me a chance that Gallifrey couldn't, but I had to leave behind everything I'd ever known. I don't have what it takes to leave _this_ life behind..."

The Doctor could only stare at the broken Time Lady before him. He wanted to hold her and tell her that she would find a way in life. Because she would...she was the wonderful Romanadvoratrelundar, and if anyone could survive the stifling influence of Gallifrey, it was her. So he did just that.

"Romana?" he asked her quietly. She gave a nonchalant 'Hm?' to show she was listening. "I was prepared to take you back to Gallifrey...because I wasn't prepared to let them put you through what they'd done to me when they caught up with me. I was exiled to Earth for an indefinite period," he reminded her. "I could have stayed there forever, were it not for Omega..."

"But don't you see, Doctor?" Romana gasped imploringly. "You're putting me through what _you_ sought to escape all those years ago. Please, I'm asking you to make an effort. Scratch that, I'm _begging_ you."

The Doctor grinned. "You, Romanadvoratrelundar, are the one I've never been able to say no to, you know that?" he asked her, his teeth prominent in his grin. "I'll make the effort, but I can't promise we'll get far..."

"I could forgive you for trying and failing, Doctor," she assured him. "But not for failing to try. Now then," she abruptly changed the subject, "if we aren't going to Gallifrey, where are we going?"

"A planet called Traken, in the system of Metulla Orionsis," Adric spoke up, causing the Doctor to jump.

"What?! We're going to Traken?! Who said so?!" he demanded, more than a bit upset that someone had taken control of _his_ beautiful TARDIS.

"Well, you must have set the coordinates for Traken," Adric shrugged.

The Doctor pointed an accusing finger at the boy. _"You_ set them!"

_"No!_ No, _you_ must have!" Adric cried in protest.

"But I didn't! Did I?" the Doctor pondered to himself. "I wonder what the Law of Probability would say about _that._ What do you think, Romana?"

"Well, somehow I don't think _you_ set the coordinates, Doctor," she assured him. "But Adric doesn't know how to pilot a TARDIS, no matter how antiquated the TARDIS is." At this, there was a deep, irritated rumble from the Capsule. "It doesn't stop you being wonderful, dear," Romana told the TARDIS in a soothing voice. The rumble became an appeased burble.

"Well," Adric broke in. "If neither of us set the coordinates, then who did?"

"I don't know," the Doctor told him in a nonchalant tone.

"Well, you _should_ know," Adric snapped in a rude manner.

"Adric..."

"You _are_ Time Lords, aren't you?"

"If we knew everything was going to happen, Adric," Romana cut in, "it wouldn't be much fun, now would it? Part of the thrill of the adventure is _not_ know-" But she cut herself off as she began staring at something to the side of both the Doctor and Adric. "Hello..."

"How do you do?" spoke a voice, which belonged to a person situated in a regal throne. At this, the Doctor and Adric spun round to look.

Realisation dawned on the former's face. "Let me guess..." the Doctor said. He then clicked his fingers and pointed his index finger at the figure. "The Keeper of Traken!"

"Greetings, Doctor," the Keeper told him. "I see that we are now considerably older than we once were." He paused before speaking again. "But unlike you, my time of dissolution is near...and the power entrusted to me is ebbing away."

"Oh, come on!" the Doctor cried. "It's still fairly impressive!"

But the Keeper carried on in his resigned tone of voice. "Even I must bow to death eventually...and when my time comes, the entire Union will be vulnerable. It is on that count that I ask you to come to Traken."

The Doctor stood up and clicked his fingers. "Right!"

"Think _carefully_ before you agree," the Keeper told him sternly. "There is great danger in this...for you _and_ your friends."

By this point, Romana spoke up. "I don't know about Adric, Keeper, but I'd take the danger over the life of an indolent Politician of Gallifrey."

Adric broke into the argument. "Is anyone going to tell me about Traken?" he demanded, frustrated at being kept out of the loop.

"The Traken Union, Adric," Romana explained, recalling what she'd learnt about that Empire from her Lecturers at the Prydon Academy, "is one of the most harmonious Empires the Universe has ever known."

"How does the boy not know of this?" the Keeper asked curiously. Most denizens of the Universe had at least heard the name.

"Oh, he's not local," the Doctor informed the Keeper. "E-Space, wasn't it?" he asked, turning to Adric, who nodded confusedly. But when he turned back, the Keeper had vanished, and the Viewscreen had been activated.

"Oh!" the Keeper cried, with the air of someone who'd been caught. "May I borrow it for a moment?"

"Yes, Keeper," the Doctor told him with a nod. "By all means..."

*DW*

**The** Doctor, Romana and Adric learnt many things about the current state of affairs on Traken from the Keeper. They began with the arrival of a statue-like creature that Romana recognised from her Xenobiology classes as a Melkur. These creatures had only a limited lifespan on Traken, due to the benevolent nature of the Keepers who had controlled the Source – the Bioelectronic Network that held the entire Traken Union together. Under the control of those Keepers, the Source emitted energy that was harmful to Melkur, which meant that their baneful power could not spread very far around the point where they touched down on Traken – and eventually, the creature would calcify, or in very rare cases, be redeemed. That part of the explanation finished with a young Trakenite girl called Kassia tending to the paralysed Melkur.

But that was many years ago...Kassia was now a fully-grown Trakenite Consul, wedded to another Consul named Tremas, and the influence of the Melkur had not faded as it should have done, owing to the fact that it had neither calcified or been redeemed. As Romana watched the Blessing of the newly-wedded couple and Tremas's daughter, Nyssa, she pulled herself out of her train of thought, now giving her full attention to the others...

"Since what, Keeper?" asked the Doctor, with concern as to what could make the Keeper of Traken, organiser of a truly peaceful Empire, so worried.

"All-pervading evil," the Keeper replied cryptically.

"Is there anything we can do, Keeper?" Romana questioned him, her binary hearts going out for this kind old man – one who was nearing his passing.

"I am fearful, even to involve the Doctor," he told her, now sounding truly afraid. "He will face unimaginable power...power which could obliterate even a Time Lord...but even this may pale in comparison to what fate this evil may conceive of for you, Lady Romana...goodbye, my friends..." With that, the Keeper departed with a flash.

"Well, that's certainly an unorthodox way to go about things, hm?" the Doctor inquired to the others with a hollow smile. "What do you make of it, both of you? You first, Romana."

"I don't like this one bit, if I'm to be truly honest, Doctor," she answered, the ghost of fear in her voice. Something powerful enough to destroy a Time Lord made her truly afraid for the Doctor – the only point in Time before now when she'd even close to _this_ level of fear was when they'd battled Skagra and his Universal Mind together, solving the mystery of the fate of Salyavin in the process. "I'm terrified...mainly for you..."

"Well, how do you think _I_ feel, being left to guess as to what might happen to you?" he retorted sharply. "The Keeper's last words implied a fate worse than death..."

"I'm not backing out, Doctor," she told him firmly. "If the Traken Union is in trouble, why don't we do what we do best?"

"Which is?" the Doctor asked with an inclination of his head, knowing what the answer was going to be.

"Help them out," Romana said simply, breaking into a smile, the Doctor joining her with a grin.

"I hope you both know what we're doing," Adric mumbled, somehow knowing that even if he didn't like it, the matter was closed.

"Oh yes..." the Doctor muttered, before realising what Adric had just said. _"We?!"_

"Well...Romana, at least," Adric amended the statement, causing the Doctor to frown and Romana to giggle, which soon had him cease frowning...


	3. Infinite Evil!

Infinite Evil!

**Updating** the Doctor's forgotten knowledge of Traken wasn't easy – he hadn't even bothered to keep much information in his notes, and what he did have was sketchy, as Adric attested.

_Look – I've read about something that's just happened,_ he'd told the Doctor, who replied; _Yes?_

_Well, the next page says it didn't happen at all!_ Adric cried in frustration, before sighing; _Oh, the page says it __**did**__ happen, but a very long time ago._

Still, they got there in the end. And after that was done, the TARDIS materialised in the Grove near the Consular Sanctum. Romana donned an outfit similar to the one she'd worn when they'd arrived on Skaro – but this time, she chose a dark violet frock coat and a golden brown scarf as opposed to the pink coat and white scarf she'd worn then. By the time the TARDIS trio stepped out, it was night, lit only by the moon that orbited the planet.

Romana's gaze fell onto the Melkur she'd seen from the visual tales the Keeper had shown them – however, she wasn't the only one, as Adric was staring at it too. The boy's face was one of apprehension, and almost mirrored Romana's thoughts. Something about this Melkur wasn't right – normally, Melkur were just baleful, but _this_ one just screamed 'EVIL!'

"It looks almost alive," Adric commented. This had the Doctor taking a look at the creature.

"Looks properly calcified to me," he dismissed the thoughts the other two were having.

"I wouldn't dismiss this just yet, Doctor," Romana told him, the ghost of fear in her voice. "Something about it feels wrong..."

"Well...if that's the case, we'd better get out of here," the Doctor decided, finality in his voice. "Come on, this way!"

They proceeded to the Grove Gate, and the Doctor tried to use his Sonic Screwdriver – but it had no effect. "Try this," Adric said, offering his gold star badge as a lockpick – this did the trick. The group headed in, only to be apprehended by the Fosters, the Sanctum Guard who stood vigil throughout this place. To Romana's surprise, they were armed with blasters – all of which were trained on her, the Doctor and Adric.

"Stick your hands up," the Doctor told the boy, who stuck his up hesitantly.

"Higher than that, Adric," Romana informed him helpfully. She then turned her attention to the Fosters. "What are we supposed to have done?" she questioned them.

"Quiet," one of them told her. "Follow us to the Sanctum..."

*DW* **_...a short time later..._** *DW*

**The** group were ushered into the Sanctum, where all five Consuls were waiting. Romana recognised two of them – Tremas, the Keeper Nominate, and Kassia, his wife – but the identities of the others remained a mystery.

"Consuls," the leading Foster – the Proctur – informed the quintet. "The cause of the evil – we have found them." This got the Doctor and Adric looking at each other in total shock. Not surprising either, considering they'd just landed on Traken.

"Well, pardon my saying so," Romana began irritably – she'd only just got out of her row with the Doctor, and she was dangerously close to losing her temper, "but if's _that's_ your attitude, then what I read about Traken is evidently out-of-date."

"And what have you heard of Traken, stranger?" questioned one of the male Consuls.

"Most harmonious Empire the Universe has ever known," she replied. "Or is Traken going for a new outlook?"

Adric cut in before the conversation could escalate. "Her name's Romana," he began, then pointed his finger at the Doctor, "he's called the Doctor, and I'm Adric."

"Why have you come here?" asked an older male Consul inquisitively.

"We were summoned here," answered the Doctor.

"By whom?"

"Well, forgive my name-dropping, but...the Keeper, actually..."

"To help ensure a successful Transition," Romana added, now considerably calmer.

"It is true..." Adric finished, with a smile of assurance.

This had all five Consuls gather round in puzzlement. Evidently, they were bewildered as to why their Keeper would send for strangers at a time such as this. After a while, they turned back to the group.

"Sacred Law decrees that the Keeper maintains contact _only_ with his appointed Consuls," Kassia informed them suspiciously.

"We have told you only the truth, Consul Kassia," countered Romana. Now the young female Consul was baffled. "Now how would I, an off-worlder, know your name? Only the Keeper would know that."

"You know of us?" asked Tremas curiously.

"Well...if you're talking about names," the Doctor cut back in, smiling his toothy smile. "Just Kassia and yourself, Tremas."

"Since we know your identities, Tremas, Kassia," Romana joined in, before gesturing with her head to the rest of the Consuls, "what about the rest of you?"

"Katura," spoke up the old woman.

"Luvic," the younger man told them.

"Seron," answered the older man. Seron then turned to the Doctor. "Are we to assume, Doctor...that you and your friends arrived in a craft of some kind?"

"Yes," the Doctor replied.

"And that you landed it in the Grove?" Seron continued.

"Yes."

"Then your craft should still be there," the Consul surmised.

"Disguised as a blue box with a lamp on top," Romana confirmed.

"Proctur Neman!" called Tremas. "Send some of your brothers to confirm this!" Neman did so, sending a few Fosters to the Grove.

"They won't find anything," Romana told the Consuls resignedly.

"Why not?" asked Luvic suspiciously.

"If my suspicions about the Melkur in the Grove are correct, it'll make sure they _don't_ find it..."

And sure enough, Neman came back and reported that the Grove was empty. The Doctor, Romana and Adric knew exactly what that meant – the TARDIS had vanished.

"Very well, Neman," Tremas told the Proctur. "Romana warned us this might happen..."

"But how could you have known about Melkur?" demanded Kassia, turning to the Time Lady.

"Yes, indeed. How could she have known?" questioned Katura. "If she is an off-worlder..."

"The Doctor and I," Romana replied, undeterred by Kassia's accusatory tone of voice, "have a telepathic sense. _He_ doesn't always use his," she gestured to the Doctor, who frowned. She just smiled teasingly. "But when I took a look at it, everything about it told me that it wasn't a normal Melkur." She finished her explanation. "Perhaps we would receive better evidence of our reasons for being on Traken if you summoned the Keeper."

"We are about to do so," Tremas informed them, as the Consuls rose from their chairs. They then proceeded to insert the stones of their Consular rings into the slots on the Audience Control Panels. After a few moments, the Keeper appeared.

"Keeper," Tremas began, "three strangers have arrived on Traken."

"And it is claimed that they have done so at your request," Kassia added.

"Bring the strangers forward," the Keeper beckoned. The Doctor, Romana and Adric stepped forward. The Time Lord and the Alzarian had their gazes fixed on the Keeper, but Romana's was wandering, eventually resting on the main entrance to the Sanctum. The Melkur from the Grove was standing in the doorway, poised to strike.

"Sorry to trouble you, Keeper, but we do seem to have a problem here," the Doctor's voice spoke to the Keeper as the Melkur's eyes began to illuminate a sinister red. "Please tell them who we are, will you?"

"Evil!" the Keeper cried in pain, though the Consuls mistook it for abhorrence. "The Sanctum is invaded!"

"Keeper!" cried Romana, turning back to the Consuls. "Shut the door! Seal the entrance to the Sanctum!" But the Consuls didn't seem to acknowledge her as they made to stand up.

"Consuls..." the Keeper gasped, before his voice rose to a scream. "...we are invaded! _Evil!_ _INFINITE_ EVIL!" With that, the old man disappeared, and their hopes of proving their innocence vanished with him as the Consuls and the Fosters advanced on the trio...


	4. Protective Custody

**A/N: Sorry it's taken me so long to update. But hey - better late than never, I guess.**

* * *

Protective Custody

**"Consuls,** I'm sure you're all charming people at heart-" the Doctor began, but he was cut off by Kassia.

"Fosters, do your duty!" she commanded with rigorous conviction.

"No, wait a minute-" Romana protested, but they were not listening. Was this really what Traken was going to become?

"Execute them!" Kassia spat furiously. "This evil must be _stamped out!"_

"QUITE!" the Doctor shouted. He then lowered his voice, as this had got them to stop...for the moment. "And Adric, Romana and I would be glad to stamp with the best of them. But let us stamp with some reason! Consuls, you saw what happened – your Keeper was attacked!"

These words got the Consuls considering the possibility. After a short pause, Seron stepped forward to inquire. "Are you implying, Doctor...that force was being used against the Keeper?"

"By someone here," the Doctor confirmed.

"Or rather...someone just outside the Sanctum," Romana added her two pence. The Fosters and Consuls turned to the entrance. "It's too late; they'll have run away."

"They being?" inquired Tremas.

"The Melkur," the Time Lady replied darkly. "He attacked the Keeper...somehow he must have known you were questioning us." She paused. "But how would he know? Do Melkur have some form of psychic power?" The question was more to herself than anyone else.

"Tell us more about this Melkur," the Doctor implored.

After a few moments, Kassia replied. "For much of my life, I have been tending to him," she told them.

"And she has been devoted to her duty," Tremas added. "Now our daughter Nyssa has been chosen for the task." Before he could explain further, the Doctor noticed a device in the Consul's hands.

"What's that?" he asked curiously. Judging from the fact that he was carrying a scientific instrument, Tremas was evidently a man of science.

The Consul turned to the others. "Will the Consuls permit an exchange of scientific instruments and knowledge?" he asked them. They nodded. Tremas then proceeded to hand over the instrument to the Doctor.

*DW* **_...sometime later..._** *DW*

**"Amazing,"** the Doctor whispered to Tremas and Romana.

"Quite so," Romana confirmed. "If we had the right equipment..." She trailed off.

"Not so loud, Romana...I don't want the other Consuls to know about this...yet," Tremas hushed them. Romana and the Doctor nodded. The Consul then headed back to the others.

"Do they speak the truth?" Katura questioned the Keeper-Nominate.

"I cannot say," Tremas admitted.

"Then let us proceed, husband," Kassia said, as though that settled the matter. "Fosters-" she called, but Tremas cut her off.

"No!" he stopped them. "In honour to the truth, we cannot proceed!"

"What truth, Tremas?" Katura asked the younger Consul.

"The charges have not been proven against the strangers. Consuls...I hereby take the strangers into my Protective Custody," Tremas informed them. They gasped.

"Protective Custody?" cried Luvic, looking at his fellow Consul as though he'd become an entirely new person.

_"No,_ Tremas!" Kassia protested vehemently. "I'm doing this for _you!"_

Seron approached the pair. "He's quite within his rights," he told the others, speaking in support of the Keeper-Nominate. Romana couldn't help but notice the resignation in his voice. Evidently the man trusted Tremas more than the other Consuls did. _How long have they both been Consuls?_ She wondered.

But her train of thought was broken by Katura's voice. "Why this _brave_ gesture, Tremas?" she pressed for a valid reason.

"Yes, _why?!_ Let it be!" Kassia begged. Her behaviour alarmed Romana over the brief Time they had become acquainted. It was as if Kassia were absolutely driven to stop Tremas from coming to harm – not something one could fault her for, mind you; Romana would never forgive herself if the Doctor were befallen by anything. But Kassia also seemed to be absolutely opposed to the idea of her husband taking strangers into Protective Custody. Romana sincerely hoped she wasn't conspiring with the Melkur – according to rumours back on Gallifrey, the punishment for conspiracy with an irredeemable Melkur was execution.

"We have no right to question him on that point," Seron reminded his fellow Consuls. With that, they gave in. He then turned to his friend. "You realise the potential consequences?"

"Consequences?" the Doctor asked.

"Doctor," Romana began, "if we infringe the Law here in any way...then any punishment inflicted upon us with also befall Tremas. Am I right?" she asked Seron, who nodded. Romana turned to Tremas. "Thank you."

"It was no problem," he answered. With that out of the way, the Doctor, Romana, Adric, the Consuls and the Fosters left the Sanctum. But none of them noticed that Kassia had disappeared...

*DW*

**"Doctor,** Romana, we release you into the Protective Custody of Consul Tremas," Seron informed them, once they had reached the Grove Gate.

"But you must stay with him," Katura reminded them sternly.

"Ah, well, that suits us just fine," the Doctor told them casually. "Doesn't it, Romana?"

"Oh yes," Romana nodded in confirmation. Eventually, the other Consuls left for Consular duties. The Time Lady turned her attention to the Doctor, Tremas and Adric. "We might need somewhere to stay for the night."

"There's little of the night left, my friends," Tremas told them. "It'll soon be dawn." And indeed, the sun that was known as Metulla Orionsis was rising.

The Doctor caught sight of an energy residue on one of the steps. Inquisitively, he stepped forwards to take a look at it. "These stones have been hit by a plasma beam," he told the others. That eliminated the possibility of psychic power in Romana's mind. "If I had the right equipment..." he trailed off.

"We might be able to see what we're up against," Romana finished for him. The Doctor nodded. "I can tell you what would be a good idea right about now."

"What's that, Romana?" Tremas inquired curiously.

"Breakfast," she replied, smiling to her friends. "Is your place far, Tremas?" He shook his head.

"Good," the Doctor joined in. "Perhaps we might be able to think better on a less empty stomach. Come on..."


	5. Framed Again

Framed Again...

**"I** must say, Tremas," the Doctor began speaking after he'd finished his breakfast, "that was absolutely delicious...don't you think, Romana?"

"Oh yes," Romana nodded in confirmation. "Better than anything we have back home." It really had been – food on Gallifrey usually contained all the elements required for life...but absolutely _nothing_ to make it enjoyable.

"Home?" Tremas wondered. "Where _are_ you from?"

"Well," Adric cut in, "I'm from a planet called Alzarius...while Romana and the Doctor are from Gallifrey."

"And the Doctor and Romana are Time Lords, yes?" Tremas asked them. He'd heard of the planet – as Trakenites were a member of the Higher Species, they'd heard hearsay of the planet of the Time Lords. "What's it like?"

_"Well_...that depends on your angle, Tremas," the Doctor told him. "If you're just sight-seeing, it's wonderful. But if you're talking about _living _there..."

"It gets boring," Romana finished for him. "Technically, our craft – called a TARDIS, which can travel in Time and Space – was stolen years ago..."

"By yours truly," the Doctor grinned his toothy grin. "But no-one was actually _bothering_ to use the old girl so I thought...'would they really miss it?'"

Just then, the door to Tremas' quarters opened to reveal his daughter, Nyssa. "Ah, there you are, Nyssa," Tremas called her over. "Doctor, Romana, this is my daughter, Nyssa. She is the one who has now been tasked with tending to the Melkur in the Grove."

"I just came from there," she told them.

"Really?" asked the Doctor. Nyssa nodded. "Well while you were there, did you see a big, blue box with a lamp on top?" He gestured as best he could.

She shook her head in confusion. "There was nothing like _that_ there."

Most people would be deterred from questioning when they'd heard this _twice,_ but Romana and the Doctor weren't willing to give up. "Well it's got to be there somewhere," Romana said shrugging. "But thank you anyway, Nyssa."

"Could _you_ take us there, Tremas?" the Doctor pressed hopefully.

Tremas considered for a moment before replying. "Very well," he told them, at which Adric, Romana and the Doctor moved to leave. "But just you and Romana, Doctor, the boy must stay with Nyssa." Adric sat back down, but anyone could detect the reluctance.

With that, the pair of Time Lords and their new friend set off for the Grove...

*DW*

**When** the trio reach the Grove Gate, they found it surrounded by Trakenite civilians and Fosters. They spotted Proctur Neman and headed to question him.

"Neman, what are all these people doing here?" Tremas pressed him.

"Just rumours, Consul," Neman replied in resignation. "The rumour is that the Melkur has been redeemed and will bring these disasters to an end." Romana gave an inward snort – that thing had given her the creeps when she so much as _looked_ at it – but only the Doctor picked up on the snort with his telepathic sense. "However, I must request that the strangers do not visit the Grove – it might serve as confirmation of the rumour."

"Very well, Proctur," Tremas acknowledged. "I was going to show them something first, anyway." This was in fact just an improvisation – but it served the purpose of throwing off the Fosters. They headed down to the Source Control Chamber. "The man's _far_ too fond of money to be trusted," he told the Time Lords with a chuckle.

"Easily bribed," Romana mused. "So what did you want to show us, Tremas?" she inquired curiously.

"It's a surprise," Tremas whispered, smiling to them with an aura of scientific enthusiasm.

*DW*

**The** group were about to head to the Back Entrance to the Grove when Tremas spotted the door opening. For fear of the Doctor and Romana being detected, he pulled them to one side. After a few moments, they got a good look at the identity of the person – it was Consul Kassia who was coming back from the Grove.

"Has Kassia ever been this secretive before, Tremas?" Romana questioned the Consul inquisitively. He shook his head. "Well...she and the Melkur seem _too_ close for comfort...if you know what I mean."

"I hope not," the Doctor mumbled worriedly. "Last I checked the punishment for conspiring with an irredeemable Melkur was death."

"It _is,_ Doctor," Romana told him. "All we can hope for is that her affiliations are either never discovered or well explained for. Did either of you notice something around her neck?" They nodded. "Come on..."

The group made to enter the Grove. Once inside, they found no sign of the TARDIS, and only the Melkur seem to give off any vibes.

"Bothers you, Tremas?" the Doctor asked him.

The Consul nodded. "Yes...and with good reason," he replied nervously.

"I know what you mean," Romana assured him that he wasn't alone in his anxieties. "But something's _wrong_ with _this_ one. It's almost as if something is trying to imitate a Melkur...and doing it _very_ well. Too well..." She trailed off before turning to where the TARDIS _should_ have been. "Shall we?"

The Doctor nodded. He activated the device in his hands. At once, he got a reading from it. "It's there...it's just been displaced slightly..." He turned to Tremas. "Have you got anything that the Outer Plasmic Projector could home in on?"

Tremas paused only for a moment. "Would a Binary Induction Field serve the purpose, Doctor?"

"Well...it'd be a _start,"_ the Time Lord told the Consul.

"We'd better get to it then," Romana told the pair of scientists. She couldn't help but notice their similarities – both of them were Science Enthusiasts and both could be very forgiving and understanding. But most importantly, both had loved ones who were on the verge of their being separated from by Destiny...only with Tremas, _he_ seemed to be the one taking on a new path, and Kassia seemed determined to prevent that.

*DW* **_later...back in the Source Control Chamber..._** *DW*

**Romana** was working on the Binary Inductor when the Doctor brought Adric in the Chamber. Adric had handed something to the Doctor, and now the Doctor was taking a look.

"It's nearly ready," Romana told the others. "Just a bit longer and it _will_ be ready. Now Adric...what did you want to tell us?"

"While you were in the Grove, I looked at the readings Tremas got from the Melkur," the young Alzarian replied. "I thought it might be a sort of TARDIS, but I wanted to know what _you_ two thought."

"Well, I think you may have a _very_ good point," the Doctor spoke up from a few metres away. "But I've never seen readings like _this_ from a Type-40."

"There aren't any other Type-40 TARDISes left apart form yours, Doctor," Romana reminded him. "305 were built, and _all_ were deregistered...save one. However, this proves my hypothesis that it wasn't a Melkur..."

"Doctor! Romana!" Tremas called them over. He was staring at the Control Unit with apprehension.

"The Keeper's being summoned," Romana surmised. "Doctor, shall I stay and work on the Binary Inductor?"

"Yes," the Doctor told her. "I was going to say 'stay here,' but now I see I don't need to...see you in a bit!"

When the Doctor, Adric and Tremas were gone, Romana resumed work on the Inductor...

*DW*

**By** the time they had returned, the device was complete...but they were in a hurry. "Doctor, what's happening?!" demanded Romana.

"We've been set up by Kassia!" the Doctor told her, frustrated that he'd been framed _again._ "I hope the Inductor's working."

"We must get back to the Grove," Tremas suggested to the party.

"We can't!" Adric told him. "There are Fosters guarding the Main Entrance!"

"Forgotten that we have the back door, Adric?" Romana smiled. "The Inductor's complete, so now we can get the TARDIS back..." The party then set off for the Grove again.

When they got to the TARDIS landing site, Romana activated the Inductor, which began bleeping. "Wait..." she paused.

"Will it work?!" Adric asked anxiously.

"Well give it a moment or two!" the Doctor snapped. His tone of voice then settled. "Trust us. If you come up with a better idea, let me know..."

"Doctor," a voice rasped some distance away – the group's heads snapped to the source of the voice, and they found that it was coming from the Melkur. "Recovering the TARDIS _won't_ help you."

"Care to place a wager on that, Melkur?" Romana asked with a smirk. This seemed to test the Melkur's patience enough for him to snap.

"Turn _off_ your instrument!" the Melkur spat furiously, his eyes lighting up that same sinister red as when he'd attacked the Keeper.

"Adric, Tremas, Doctor, cover your eyes!" Romana shouted, covering her own. They moved to join her.

Adric's attention was then diverted to where the TARDIS ought to be. "Doctor, Romana, look!" he cried in joy. They looked – and found that the TARDIS had reappeared. But before they could enter, the Melkur laughed as they were blocked by Kassia.

"Kassia! Help us!" exclaimed Tremas, pleading with her. But his words did not register.

"Help me, Tremas!" she cried, struggling to break from the influence of the Melkur. Tremas moved to pull the Control Necklace off of her neck, but he didn't get very far. _"Don't look!"_ hissed Kassia. "Not my eyes!" With that, her now red eyes issued a stream of energy that hit Tremas in the face, which caused him to fall to the floor.

The Doctor, Romana and Adric moved to help him up, but before they could move very far, a net fell onto them. Moments later, they cried out in pain as energy coursed throughout their bodies, causing them to pass out...


	6. The Dissolution

The Dissolution

**Romana** was stirring from a dream of a very intimate nature concerning herself and the Doctor. She might have been raised to frown upon such things on Gallifrey, but even she wasn't immune from such urges. When she did wake up, she found the Doctor, Adric and Tremas, unconscious in a dimly-lit Cell with her. She moved over to her fellow Time Lord to rouse him from his slumber – which got him up and about.

"Where are we?" the Doctor asked her sleepily.

"In a Cell near the Sanctum," Romana replied. "Are you alright?"

"Yes, of course, I'm fine," he waved her off – _typical Doctor,_ Romana thought in resignation, with a twinge of fondness. _He's always shrugging it off._ "How are the others?"

"Still asleep," she answered him. "Before you try to unlock the door, I'd stop before you begin – it's an old wood lock, so the Sonic Screwdrivers won't work on it."

The Doctor cursed in Old High Gallifreyan, at which Romana slapped him hard on the shoulder, garnering an 'Ow!' from him. Before either of them could say anything else, Adric and Tremas were stirring. "Are you two alright?" she asked them. They both nodded. "We're in one of the old Cells."

Tremas sighed. "That means they're just deciding what to do with us while we rot in a dungeon," he told them. "Seron is dead, Doctor...his death proves the Keeper's power is dwindling. The dissolution can't be far off."

"Whatever happens, Melkur must _not_ be allowed to make contact with the Source," the Doctor informed them resolutely.

"How can he, Doctor?" Tremas questioned him. "The bioelectronics permits only Trakenites to succeed as Keeper."

"And with Kassia a slave to the Melkur, he could instruct her to undergo Transition, and then remove her from the chain," Romana told him grimly. The now ex-Keeper Nominate gasped in horror. "All the more reason to stop them. The trouble is, with an old wood lock like this, we can't use our Sonic devices to unlock it..."

*DW* **_later..._** *DW*

**"Doctor?** Romana?" asked a voice from outside the Cell – a voice that belonged to Nyssa.

"Ah, a friendly face at last!" cried the Doctor happily. Nyssa then moved to unlock the door. When she was done, she led him, Romana, Tremas and Adric back to the Sanctum Entrance – where they spotted two Fosters on the ground, one of which was Neman.

"They're not _dead,_ are they Nyssa?" Romana asked their new ally worriedly – even though the Time Lady might use a weapon, she remembered hating the first time she'd killed a man.

"No," Nyssa assured her, showing them the device she had used to incapacitate the Fosters – one which Romana recognised at once.

"An Ion Bonder," the Time Lady noted. "They'll sleep for some Time before they wake up."

"Remind me never to argue with your daughter, Tremas," the Doctor muttered to the Consul. Just then, the Sanctum Entrance began to slowly open up. "This way, come on!" he told the others.

They made considerable progress down the corridors before being apprehended by two more Fosters, armed with blasters. "Ah, good morning!" the Doctor greeted them with a laugh. "Or is it the afternoon? I always get those two mixed up."

"Only _you_ would babble at a time like _this,_ Doctor," Romana told him with a sigh of frustration.

"Quiet!" snapped the first Foster, his weapon firmly trained on the quintet. "Up against the wall, all of you!" They did so.

"Doctor, the Ion Bonder," Nyssa whispered to him, slipping him the device.

"That's it! Kill them!" spat the Foster. But before they could use their blasters, the Doctor activated the Ion Bonder twice in rapid succession, felling both Fosters instantly.

"Come on, quickly!" commanded the Doctor. "Tremas' quarters!"

*DW*

**When** the group arrived at Tremas' quarters, they found the whole place turned inside-out. Food and papers littered the floor – the Fosters had evidently been searching for them there when they'd found out that they'd escaped.

"The new regime seems to be making a mess of things," the Doctor commented.

"Thanks to the interference from another Renegade Time Lord," Romana added. "But who?" Several unpleasant possibilities sprang to mind – so many that she didn't even want to consider them.

"Let's hope we find out before it's too late," her fellow Time Lord told her, before he turned his attention to the Consul with them. "Tremas...Blueprints...Master Plans...do you happen to keep them here?"

"Y-yes...they are in the Airsafe," Tremas nodded. "Why, Doctor?"

"The Master Plans of the Source Manipulator," the Doctor explained. "It might give us a way to stop Melkur."

"The Master Plans of the Source Manipulator are only to be seen by Consuls," Tremas protested – understandably, anything that could control the Source remotely was a dangerous device to possess.

But desperate times called for desperate measures. "Tremas, it's imperative that we stop Melkur from gaining control of the Source. For that, we need to see the Master Plans," Romana implored him.

"Romana, I swore an Oath-"

"Well of course, you swore an Oath!" the Doctor snapped angrily – now was not the moment to be worrying about dignity. "Now you have to choose – your own personal honour against the safety of the whole of Traken!"

"Yes, Father!" Nyssa implored. Romana was able to see the similarities between Nyssa and herself – the Trakenite girl reminded her of how she'd been in the early days of her Time at the Prydon Academy.

Tremas began to head over to the Airsafe, but eventually stopped in defeat. "I cannot, Doctor," he sighed sadly.

But the Doctor wasn't going to give up _that_ easily. "That's alright, Tremas," he told him, shrugging his shoulders. "When this thing's taken over Traken, you'll have the comfort of knowing that you kept your honour _intact."_

These words bolstered the Consul's resolve to do what needed to be done, as he went to the Airsafe and retrieved the Master Plans for the Source Manipulator. With that, the two Time Lords began thinking up a way to defeat the Renegade Time Lord who was masquerading as a Melkur...

*DW* **_much later...the Grove..._** *DW*

**After** the Doctor and Romana had finally figured out how the Source Control Circuits could be tripped, they had set off for the TARDIS to discuss the plan safely. As they were about to enter the TT Capsule, however, they were apprehended by a group of Fosters, which happened to include Proctur Neman. All of them were armed with blasters.

"Ah, Neman! You've made a _splendid_ recovery!" the Doctor cried in fake joy.

"Unfortunately for _you,_ yes. Now STAND STILL!" shouted the Proctur.

"Neman, I am _Tremas,_ your _Consul!"_ Tremas reminded him. "What's _happened_ to you people?!"

"There's nothing more to be said, Consul Tremas," Neman told him dispassionately, cutting straight to the point of the Fosters' being there.

"Ah, cutting to the chase – it _is_ cutting to the chase, isn't it, Doctor?" Romana asked her fellow Time Lord, who nodded. "Well then...what are you going to do?"

"By order of the Keeper Nominate, Romana is to be placed in Probative Custody," Neman told them. "The rest of you are to be sentenced to death. Sentence to be carried out immediately."

But before any of the Fosters could use their blasters, the sky above them began to billow and swirl with energy. Neman gave the order to fire, but the Fosters had been taken by surprise, and began to flee. Neman tried to pick up one of the dropped blasters, but the Doctor grabbed him by the neck and activated the Ion Bonder. The Proctur would not be waking up any time soon.

"He's dying Doctor! The Keeper's dying!" cried Tremas. The Keeper's dissolution had evidently arrived.

"YES! AND _KASSIA_ WILL BE THE NEXT KEEPER UNLESS WE MAKE THE SANCTUM!" the Doctor yelled back over the noise. "ROMANA, GET ADRIC AND NYSSA AND GO!"

"HE DIES, DOCTOR, THE KEEPER _DIES!"_ Tremas shouted in horror.

"FATHER!" called Nyssa from a distance away. Romana ran to her and grabbed her by the arm to rejoin the group. But before they could get to the Back Entrance of the Grove, the energy faded and the storm passed.

"The Keeper...is _dead,"_ Tremas told them sadly. Romana felt a tear cascade down her cheek – the Keeper hadn't deserved to pass away while everything he'd worked _so_ hard to keep holding together fell apart.

However, now was not the time to become sentimental – they still needed to stop Kassia and the Melkur from taking control of the Source. They began to head to the Back Entrance, when-

"Doctor...Romana..." the Melkur rasped his sinister rasp. "So you survived after all..."

"Yes...don't kill us _yet,_ will you?" quipped the Doctor, despite the gravity of the situation.

"Look into my eyes, Doctor," the Melkur commanded. But the Doctor refused to do so. "Look and you will die _swiftly_...a _merciful_ death. Refuse and you will regret it."

"I'm afraid I can't do that, Melkur," the Doctor told him feigning an apologetic tone. "You see...judging from the fact that Kassia ordered the Fosters to spare Romana's life, and the tip-off from the late Keeper...I've no way of knowing what _you_ have planned for her..."

"You have not the means to stop me, Doctor," the Melkur told him with a patronizing chuckle. "You may as well make this easy on yourself..."

"One thing you should know about the Doctor, Melkur," Romana spoke up at this point. "He is much too stubborn to give up...and lately, it's been the same story with _me._ I think you'll find that we _can_ and _will_ stop you!"

"But it's too _late,_ Romana...the Source is _mine!"_ the Melkur cackled with sadistic glee. "And you will feel its power as you become a servant of _my_ will!"

_"Never!"_ Romana spat in furious disgust at the idea that she would bend to the will of this _creature._ She, the Doctor, Adric, Nyssa and Tremas then set off for the Sanctum...

*DW* **_the Sanctum..._** *DW*

**"CONSULS,** DON'T DO IT!" the Doctor shouted desperately as they entered the Sanctum to find Kassia on the Keeper's throne, with Luvic and Katura actuating the Controls to complete the Transition.

"_You again!"_ hissed Katura.

"Fosters, these strangers have no business here!" Luvic shouted to the Fosters in the Sanctum, who moved to apprehend the group.

"Consul Kassia has betrayed you _all! Don't_ complete the Transition!" the Doctor implored.

"Do your duty, Katura, and complete Transition!" Kassia commanded.

_"Don't listen to her, Consul!"_

_"Complete Transition!"_

"Katura, don't!" Romana pleaded – despite what she'd done, Kassia did _not_ deserve to die, and that was what would happen if Transition was complete. But too late – Katura actuated the Control Switch.

"Transition complete!" she announced. "You now have access to the Source, Keeper." The Consul moved to join Luvic in a bow to the new Keeper, but suddenly, Kassia screamed in pain as she was engulfed by an eerie energy.

"The Keeper!" Luvic cried in horror.

"You _idiots!"_ Romana snarled furiously. "We gave you ample warning!" She choked back her tears at having failed to prevent another death while the Doctor pulled her into an embrace. "We're sorry, Tremas."

"It's not your fault, Romana," Tremas told her in assurance. "The only one to blame is Melkur." By now, Kassia's body had completely faded, and a sound began to ring throughout the Sanctum – one which the Doctor, Romana and Adric recognised as a TARDIS materialisation.

"Adric, take Nyssa to the TARDIS," the Doctor told the boy, who obeyed at once. He took a look at Romana, who shook her head to indicate that she was staying with him. Just then, the materialisation ceased, and in Kassia's place sat the Melkur...


	7. The Identity of the Melkur

The Identity of the Melkur

**"Thank** you, Consul Katura," the Melkur told the aging woman, whose mouth was still sagging from shock. "It was wise of you to complete the Transition. You have done well."

"Who are _you?!"_ demanded Katura.

"Your new Keeper," the Doctor told her sadly.

"This is no Keeper of Traken!" Tremas denied vehemently. Thanks to the machinations of this _creature,_ his wife had been taken from him forever.

"I know he's not what you had in mind, Tremas," Romana told him, her face still wet with tears. "But thanks to Katura's idiocy Traken is _stuck_ with him."

"Consul Luvic," the Melkur beckoned the other Consul in the Sanctum. "Send for Proctur Neman." Luvic was on the verge of protest, but Romana cut him off.

"Do as he says, Luvic," Romana choked in resignation. "He can and _will_ make you if you don't do it willingly."

"There is no _compulsion,_ Consul," the new Keeper denied Romana's claim. "It is your Keeper who asks you – do it to serve him."

"No compulsion?! Ha!" the Doctor laughed out loud. "You appear to have changed your tone!"

"And apparently, you _haven't,_ Doctor," the Melkur retorted. "Consuls, this man is known to me, as is his ambitio-"

"HIS ONLY _AMBITION_ IS TO STOP _YOU,_ MELKUR!" Romana snarled, hatred punctuating the name. "IT WAS TO STOP _YOU_ FROM TAKING CONTROL OF THE SOURCE!"

"Be silent!" the Melkur snapped, finally fed up of the Time Lady's attitude and what he perceived to be arrogance. He then turned his attention to Luvic again, his voice a softer tone. "Luvic, I must insist you bring the Proctur here immediately..."

*DW*

**After** Luvic had left to fetch Neman, it was Tremas who spoke up.

"You have no _right_ to sit in _that_ chair!" he spat in righteous anger. "How _dare_ you claim to be known to the old Keeper?!"

_"Known_ to him, Consul?" the Melkur asked, in a tone of voice that would have fitted someone raising their eyebrows. "It was _he_ who foresaw that _I_ should succeed."

_"Impossible!"_ scoffed Tremas. "No outsider can _become_ Keeper!"

"That's true!" cried Katura, finally joining in, struggling to understand how the Melkur had taken control. "Our choice was Consul Kassia!"

"Correct, Consul Katura," the Melkur confirmed. "It was a necessary component in my succession. The old Keeper foresaw this, and Kassia gave her life so that I should serve you."

"If you ask _me,_ poor old Kassia didn't have much say in the matter," the Doctor murmured, inwardly disgusted that this thing would degrade an otherwise noble woman in such a way. Just then, the Sanctum Entrance opened to reveal Proctur Neman.

"Neman, the Consuls and the strangers are to be confined to the residential quarters," the Melkur told him. "The Doctor will stay with Tremas, while Romana is to remain with Katura and Luvic in Katura's quarters."

"The Doctor is under sentence of death, Keeper," Neman replied in confusion. "And Romana was placed in Probative Custody."

"True, Proctur Neman," the Melkur admitted. "But, eager though I am to begin my regime of bloodshed..." he began to dematerialise and fade away, "...you are all confined to quarters...your fates will be decided later. Oh, and Doctor...try to leave with Romana...try to gain access to the TARDIS, and...you...will...suffer!" By this point, he had completely disappeared.

"Fosters," Neman called the others over. "The Doctor is to be confined with Tremas, while Romana will go with Katura and Luvic." But before the Fosters could take them away, the Doctor whispered something to Neman. But the Proctur ignored him and ordered them to be taken away...

*DW* **_Katura's quarters..._** *DW*

**"What** are we supposed to do?" Luvic sighed in despair. "Traken has never had a darker period. Never before has a Keeper been usurped by a Melkur!"

"It's not a Melkur," Romana said, not looking at either Consul. "Judging by the way he disappeared and reappeared, I'd say the Melkur was a TARDIS."

"What?!" Katura questioned.

"Better known as a Time Travel Capsule," the Time Lady told them. "What do you know of the Time Lords, Consuls?"

"Well..." Luvic sighed in defeat. "Only the Planet of Origin...and _that_ planet is rumoured to be unreachable!"

"It is," Romana confirmed. Then she sighed, realising that maybe she maybe should have been completely honest from the beginning. "The Doctor and I are Time Lords...but we're of the group that would be termed 'Renegades.' Most Time Lords have no sense of adventure, and live their lives in a constant state of evolutionary stagnation. Some of us...just want to get away from all of that." She paused for a moment, noticing a glass of water and taking a sip to quench her thirst. "Those Time Lords are the Renegades...and while there are a fair few benevolent Renegades...there was an old saying; 'If you had ten Renegades, the chances are one of them will be a rotten fruit.' See the implications?"

"Are you saying that the Melkur is a malevolent Renegade Time Lord?" Katura gasped in shock, at which Romana nodded. "And I just gave it access to the Source, through which it can dominate the whole Traken Union?!"

"More than that, Katura," the Time Lady told her in the grimmest of tones. "He could twist what it means to be a Trakenite...with him as the new Keeper he could change the Traken Union from 'Most Harmonious Empire' to 'Most Bloodthirsty.'" The two Consuls gasped in horror.

Before Romana could speak further, she got a telepathic message – from the tone of voice, she knew at once it was the Doctor; _the Melkur destroyed the Master Plans for the Source Manipulator – I'm going to improvise...meet me in the Sanctum._

"Katura...Luvic...I'm heading for the Sanctum," she told them. "We have to stop the Melkur...and I have a nasty feeling that he's keeping the Doctor and I alive for some gruesome purpose. I'm going to find out who the Melkur really is and, with the Doctor's help, stop him. Are you with me or not?" She said it in such a way that told anyone that _no-one_ could stop her.

"Very well," Katura told the Time Lady. "If the Fosters see you alone, they may kill you on sight. We'll go with you to make the path easier." The message in her tone of voice told Romana that she was truly repentant for her mistake.

"And _we_ want to know who the Melkur is as much as you do," Luvic cut in. "We're going with you."

"Thank you," Romana told them, smiling. She then turned her attention to the task at hand. "Now then...let's go and stop the Melkur..."

*DW* **_the Sanctum..._** *DW*

**Romana,** Katura and Luvic had only come across a few Fosters on their way to the Sanctum. They had, at first, been a little belligerent, but Luvic had managed to stop them before anyone got hurt. He'd managed to persuade them that the Melkur would pervert the honour of the Traken Union if allowed to continue in his endeavours – surprisingly, these Fosters proved themselves unlike Neman (a man far too easily bribed), and this argument was the one that won them over. Observing Luvic, Romana wondered if he'd have made a good Keeper.

But now was not the moment for musings. Now the group was waiting for the Doctor and Tremas. Miraculously, they didn't have to wait very long, for the pair turned up shortly after Romana, Katura and Luvic did. Now all they had to do was trip the Source Control Circuits. The two Consuls Romana had arrived with had initially protested, but relented when told it could be the only way to stop the Melkur.

However, their efforts were cut short when the Melkur materialised in the Audience Hub. As soon as he'd fully appeared, the Control Panel shorted out – he was in full control of the Source now...

"Doctor...come closer," the Melkur commanded. He did so.

"Do you really think this will stop us, Melkur?" Romana sneered. "We _could_ just run and try again..."

"Too late, Romana," the Melkur retorted with a matching sneer. "I am in _full_ control of the Source!"

"You may _call_ yourself Keeper of Traken, but our people will _never_ accept you!" Tremas told the new Keeper boldly. Romana smiled inwardly – this man reminded her of her _own_ father...while his daughter, Nyssa, reminded her of her younger self.

"A bold thought, Tremas...but not true," the Melkur said patronizingly. "Your people will obey me...and so will _you."_

"I would _die_ first!" Tremas spat furiously, rushing forward to place his Consular Ring in the Control Panel. But he was abruptly frozen.

"Oh, that's not necessary," the Melkur told him. Tremas remained frozen for only a few more moments before he spoke again. "Now, Consul Tremas..._who_ do you obey?"

"I...obey...you, Melkur..."

"Let's put it to the test, shall we?" his puppet-master, for want of a better word, asked him. Just then, the Sanctum Entrance opened...and Neman was standing outside the door. "Come in, Neman...and give your gun to Consul Tremas." When Neman tried to protest he was cut off. "Do as I say! That is an order!" the Melkur spat. Neman gave his gun to Tremas. "Doctor, Romana, you may watch...but _not_ interfere. Now...Neman... you failed in your duty to me, did you not?"

"I _tried,_ Keeper," Neman spoke up, his tone a plea for forgiveness. But none came.

"The punishment for failure...is death," the new Keeper told him. The Melkur then turned to Tremas. "Tremas...you're a fair-minded man. Kindly _destroy_ Neman!" Neman began backing away in fear, but Tremas, still under the control of the evil Time Lord, fired the blaster, killing the Proctur instantly. "And _now_...yourself, Tremas." Romana's hearts seized up in terror – this kind man did not deserve to die, but he certainly _didn't_ deserve a death like the one that the Melkur was about to bestow upon him.

But before Tremas could fire the gun, it was cast aside, and the Melkur burst into maniacal laughter. "You see, Tremas?! You will serve me, just as your people will! You have no choice, really..._none_ of you has!" It was spoken with such force that left no doubt in anyone's mind...he was powerful enough to do anything...

*DW* **_a bit later..._** *DW*

**"You** wish us to built Warships?!" cried Luvic in horror when faced with the revelation of the Melkur's plan.

"Yes, Consul Luvic," the evil Time Lord replied, megalomania mounting in his voice. His behaviour was now reminding Romana of the description given to one of the worst Children of Gallifrey. "You will build ships...to _my_ design, of course. You will organise the people and _I_ shall lead them...to _worlds without number_...to _conquest!"_

"That's a very popular delusion," the Doctor commented wryly.

"And along the way, many _old scores_ will be settled," the Melkur added. With these words, it clicked in Romana's head. There was only one evil Time Lord who could hate the Doctor as much as the Melkur did...

"Old scores?" the Doctor questioned, frowning.

"Isn't it obvious?" Romana told her Time Lord friend. She turned to the Melkur. "I know _exactly_ who you are, Melkur...or should I say..." she paused for dramatic effect, "...Master?"

The evil Time Lord burst into hysterical, maniacal laughter as the Doctor's eyes went wide in shock. "She's very intelligent, isn't she, Doctor?" the Master chuckled.

"Yes, indeed...more intelligent than you or I, Master," the Doctor replied, grinning madly. "She graduated from the Prydon Academy with a Triple First."

"Am I supposed to be impressed?" the Master sneered.

"Well...it's better than achieving only 69% in the best of examinations," Romana sneered right back. But no reply came – instead, the Melkur just materialised around both the Doctor and Romana. When it was done, they were inside the Console Room of the Melkur TARDIS.

"Well?" a hooded figure spoke as he swivelled around on his chair to face the other two Time Lords. What Romana saw disgusted her – the Master had been reduced to nothing more than a walking, burnt-out Time Lord cadaver. His skin was almost completely covered in black mould, and the parts that were not were highlighted in decayed flesh. However, that wasn't the worst of it – what _were_ the worst of it were his eyes...bright with mania of the most dangerous kind, one half-shut, the other's eyelids completely decomposed.

"It _had_ to be _you,_ didn't it?" the Doctor grumbled irritably.

"The Master...Gallifrey's Most Infamous Child," Romana spat. She could still remember the details of the story Engin and Spandrell had told everyone – which said that the Master had dared to try and unseat the Eye of Harmony from its mooring, hoping to gain a new regenerative cycle at the cost of Gallifrey.

"Welcome to my new ship," the walking cadaver told them, his bony hands gesturing around the Console Room.

"I'd hazard a guess it was a Type-92," Romana speculated. "Am I right?" The Master nodded. "Must have a very good library."

"I'd love to show it to you, but that wouldn't be fair on the Doctor," the evil Time Lord told her in a leering manner. Romana bristled with anger and revulsion – she was utterly repulsed by this _thing_ leering at her...and evidently, so was the Doctor, as he rushed forward to the Controls, only to be stopped by the Master. "The immediate area surrounding you is now keyed _entirely_ to _my_ biological rhythms, Doctor! If you moved a muscle, you will be _destroyed!"_

_Don't make any moves, Doctor,_ Romana called out in her mind. _Don't you dare die on me!_

_I refuse to let you suffer at his hands!_ The Doctor shouted back furiously. _There are fates worse than death, Romana! It's too terrible to think what he might do to you!_

But before Romana could speak further in the telepathic conference, the Master was speaking aloud again. "You will find immobility endurable, Doctor...I speak from experience."

"I thought you meant to destroy me?" the Doctor asked him, wondering why his best enemy had not done so.

"That would be irrational," the Master replied, in a tone that could have passed for scandalised. "To waste all that acquired knowledge of the centuries. Romana spoke of my library, Doctor...I intend that _you_ should become a part of it. Your mind will be deposited there...while your body..."

"His body you make your own?" Romana cut in, the revulsion coming back. She hated the idea of the Master waltzing around in the body of the man she..._loved?_ Such a thought almost broke her. "All because you're nearing the end of your twelfth regeneration...that's the end for a Time Lord...but _not_ for the Keeper of Traken..."

"With my new powers, _anything_ is possible," the Master laughed. "I can do _anything_...even make the most stubborn Time Lady in the Universe bend to _my_ will..." he began walking towards Romana.

_"Don't touch her!"_ the Doctor ground out, enraged that the Master would even _try_ that. He couldn't bear to think of what the evil Time Lord would do to the woman he loved...who was also the most wonderful Time Lady in the Universe. Romana's spirit wasn't easily crushed...but-

_No! Don't even think that!_ He scolded himself. But before the Master could do anything to Romana, the Control Console let out a klaxon. "The Source!" cried the evil Time Lord. "Someone has tampered with the power of the Source!" The Master turned around and let out a scream of unbridled rage as the Console went up in flames, destroying all Secondary Systems and freeing the Doctor.

"DOCTOR, THE GLASS!" Romana shouted. He took the hint and drove himself straight through the pane to leave the Melkur TARDIS. She moved to follow him, but not before delivering a final message. "You should have savoured the victory while you had it, Master! Now you can choke on it!" With that, she ran through where the glass pane used to be and found her self in the Audience Hub. Turning around, she found Adric and Nyssa in the Sanctum, and judging from the surroundings, the billowing roar of energy that marked a Keeper's death was present.

"ADRIC!" the Doctor shouted through the glass door. "THREE-THREE-SEVEN! THREE...THREE...SEVEN!" Eventually, the boy managed to type it in, and the doors slid open. Moments later, the billowing roar died down.

"The Source! The Source is failing!" cried Consul Katura.

"One of you step in to stop it from failing!" Romana told them. At this, Luvic rushed onto the now vacant seat and Katura moved to begin Transition. The Time Lady then turned to Adric, Nyssa and Tremas. "The Melkur TARDIS is completely destroyed...the Master with it. There won't be any more trouble from _him_ anytime soon."

"We'll leave you to get Traken's affairs in order, Tremas," the Doctor told the Consul. "Romana, Adric and I really _must_ be off. Come along, you two!" he called as he headed down to the Grove via the Source Control Chamber.

"As long as we're not heading back to Gallifrey, Doctor!" Romana called back as she set off after him.

Adric turned to Nyssa and Tremas. "Romana doesn't want to go back there," he told them by way of explanation. He then followed the two Time Lords...

*DW* **_back in the Doctor's TARDIS..._** *DW*

**"...this** type's not _really_ my forté," the Doctor told the others.

"What about figuring out how the Source Control Circuits could be tripped?" Adric asked him.

"Guesswork, mostly," the Time Lord shrugged.

"But it _did_ work," the young Alzarian smiled.

"Yes...Adric...wouldn't it be nice to be right about everything?" the Doctor asked, grinning madly.

That was it. Romana couldn't take this casual attitude anymore. "Adric, could you give us some Time alone?" Adric nodded, and then moved to head into his room in the TARDIS. Romana then slapped the Doctor hard on the cheek.

"Ah!" he cried in pain, his cheek stinging angrily. "What was that for?!"

"That was for your total lack of thought for your own safety in the Master's TARDIS!" Romana shouted furiously. "You basically told me your life didn't matter compared to mine! Do you not even remember your own words when the Shadow tortured me?!"

When the Doctor spoke next, his voice was sheepish. "Romana, I-" he began, only to be cut off.

"HOW DO YOU THINK I WOULD HAVE FELT ABOUT THE MASTER WALKING AROUND IN _YOUR_ BODY?!" Romana screeched. "FOR OMEGA'S _SAKE,_ DOCTOR! I _HATED_ THE IDEA OF THE MASTER LEERING AT ME, KNOWING HE WAS GOING TO RAPE ME AND THAT HE WAS GOING TO USE _YOUR_ BODY TO DO IT!" She broke down and choked back her building tears, allowing the Doctor to pull her into an embrace.

"Romana, I would rather have been destroyed a thousand times than allow him to hurt you," he murmured into her strawberry blonde hair. "That's why I told you my life didn't matter. For you, I would have died as many times as left to me." His voice lowered to a comforting whisper...or what he hoped was. "I love you..."

The Time Lady lifted her head to face him. "Doctor, I..."

"You don't have to say it back," the Doctor assured her. And just as well – Romana wasn't sure she _could_ admit it aloud _just_ yet. "You know...I think what we need is a nice vacation..."

* * *

**A/N: Well, that's "The Keeper of Traken" part completed. Woohoo!**

**On a less pleasant note...SOPA 2014 could very well destroy this website. This could be the last time I update...so please, a review would be MASSIVELY appreciated. I don't want this to end knowing that this story only got a review telling me to continue - no offence meant, stargate time traveller.**


	8. A Ghost on the Eye of Orion

A Ghost on the Eye of Orion

**"...on** the Eye of Orion," the Doctor finished. Romana's hearts softened a bit at that.

"Hm...the Most Tranquil Place in the Universe?" Romana inquired in a teasing tone – not at the title, but at the Doctor's choice of vacation spot. "I'd have thought you'd take us somewhere where we'd find yet _more_ trouble."

"What?!" exclaimed the Doctor, in a manner that implicated Romana as having mortally offended him. "I'll have you know that I _can_ break with tradition!"

Romana just gave an involuntary snort of fondness. "Show me..."

*DW* **_the Eye of Orion..._** *DW*

**Sometime** later, the TARDIS had indeed arrived on the Eye of Orion. In her mind, Romana was impressed – even the Doctor would have trouble finding trouble _here,_ as one of the reasons the Eye of Orion _was_ so tranquil was because it was completely uninhabited by any advanced life-forms. But she couldn't bring herself to tell him that she _was_ impressed – she was still working out her emotions, which were more keenly felt in her second body than in her first...

"The descriptions don't really do it justice, do they?" Romana suggested. Indeed, 'Most Tranquil Place in the Universe' was just a title. Seeing its serene nature, however, was what gave that title meaning. "How long do you plan for us to stay here, Doctor?"

"Would 'as long as we like' sound good to you?" the Doctor returned with a question of his own.

Romana turned to him with a smile. "Yes..."

*DW* **_five days later...near a riverside..._** *DW*

**A** relaxed vacation like this would have left most people without a worry in the Universe. But then again, Romana _wasn't_ most people. This trip had taken away her former worries – those of the Doctor being killed and her being powerless to stop it, or of the Time Lords finding out where they'd got to. But those worries had only been supplanted by new ones – not ones of terror, but of anxiety.

In spite of having ample opportune moments, and having been told by the Doctor that he loved her, Romana still could not tell him that his feelings were reciprocated. Realistically, she knew that they could only spend so much Time on the Eye of Orion, and she didn't know what would be worse – to let her hearts get broken when and if the Time Lords took her back to Gallifrey, or to tell the Doctor of her reciprocation of his feelings for her, and break _his_ hearts when she was separated from him forever.

_How ironic,_ Romana thought bitterly, as she dipped her bare feet into the river, relishing the feel of it in spite of its lack of heat. _I'm a Lady of Time, but I can't even control my own hearts. Figures..._

Just then, she caught sight of a ghostly, white-clad figure on the other side of the river. As she stared, Romana thought she saw him raised his hand to his lips, as if bidding her not to speak of what she'd just witnessed. Squinting with her Temporal sense, she found that the figure gave off a strange aura – one that she recognised, as that aura belonged to the Doctor. But this didn't seem like a past _or_ future incarnation – rather, he appeared to be the very essence of everything the Doctor ever had been or would be. As she thought this, she was hit by several images in her mind, each image a face of the Doctor – the Grandfather, the Joker, the Hero, the Wanderer, the Empathiser, the Vigilante, the Conniver, the Objector, the Warrior (Romana would be lying if she wasn't shocked by _that),_ the Survivor, the Lover, and finally, the Madman.

The first of them left the impression of the suspicion the Doctor sometimes held. His first travelling companions must have had a lot to deal with. This one was irascible and slow to trust – but at the same time, he was a young man, trying to be old.

The second face was perhaps more relaxed than the first. Romana could see when the Doctor's humour had come from. She could also gather the indication that he just seemed to wander, making jokes and bumbling to throw off any enemy he might face.

The third gave off a different aura still. This version, like the first, could leave an imprint in the psyche that he did not suffer fools gladly. However, he seemed less...sealed off, somehow, than the first. Still compartmentalised, but to a lesser degree.

Romana knew all about the fourth face – for it was the one the Doctor wore _now._ She knew him to be compartmentalised nearly to the extreme, not easily opening his hearts to anyone. But now, he seemed to be letting go of that slowly since she regenerated, and quickly since the Time Lords called. It were as though he _wanted_ her to know what lied in his soul, that he would trust her with his hearts.

If the next face was anything to go by, Romana would have said that the current Doctor was paving the way to an incarnation who was more...young, externally at least. This regeneration seemed to be an effort to reclaim lost youth, and gave off an aura of Humanity, humility and compassion not seen in previous incarnations.

This Humanity, humility and compassion was totally lost on the sixth face. There was an incredible aura of ego...and he seemed a dark character. This one seemed determined to fight for justice, and was probably not averse to using harsher methods if the situation called for it.

The seventh face was again a dark character. Like the second one, he seemed to have the knack for bumbling to throw opponents off-guard, but it was much more sinister. But Romana knew this one was necessary to draw up plans, if and when the Doctor had any plans.

Next was the face of a character who gave off the very aura of pacifism. His character seemed a lot brighter, and his eyes carried the shadow of a dreamer. Physically speaking, he was also perhaps the most dashing face yet.

All of this was lost on the next – overshadowed – incarnation that, like the sixth, seemed ready to take up the fight for justice. This was a man who would do this because there was no other way. He would do it in the names of the many lives the Doctor hoped to save. Romana knew he would be the Doctor on the day it would not be possible to get it right.

And that would be what the true ninth Doctor would have to live with after that day came. He gave off the aura of regret, and guilt, and pain. Furthermore, he seemed as sealed off as, if not even more so, than the current Doctor.

The tenth face still carried the pain, regret and guilt of the last, but the difference was his ability to wear his hearts on his sleeve, much as the next Doctor from the current one would do. But where the young Doctor would feel love in a general way (compassion), this one's feelings would be far more particular than that – in other words, romance.

Finally, the romantic qualities seemed to have toned down on a still younger-looking face. This one seemed mad and sane, young and old, all at the same time. He appeared to Romana as though he could tuck all that regret away and seal it off without doing the same to everything else.

These men were the Doctor – all that he was now...all that he had been...and all he ever would be. This spectre was the nature of all of them...and that was why this ghost had bidden her to remain silent about this turn of events. But one positive thing had occurred from this chance meeting – it had given Romana the resolve she needed to open her hearts to the Doctor as he seemed to be doing with her...

"Romana?!" a voice called from behind her. She turned and saw the Doctor walking toward her. "There you are! I was wandering where you'd got to-"

"Doctor," Romana spoke up, cutting her fellow Time Lord off. "Could you sit with me for a while?" The Doctor nodded and took a seat beside her. "Doctor, I...h-have...something I have to t-tell you..." He fixed her with an inquisitive stare. "Remember what you told me when we left Traken?"

"Romana...don't you think it would be better for the both of us for you to say what you have to say?" the Doctor asked her.

"Fine!" Romana exclaimed in frustration, before grabbing the lapels of his frock coat and pulling him into a passionate kiss. He soon managed to return the passion, only breaking it off after some Time had passed.

The Doctor stared incredulously at her. "Really?"

"Yes, Doctor," Romana replied hesitantly. "I-I love you." She pulled him into an embrace, which had him deciding to rest his arms around her...

*DW*

**"I** don't want it to end," the Doctor whispered to her, his tone of voice a plea. She knew he was talking about their Time together. "Don't leave me..."

"Then don't let me go," Romana whispered back imploringly. "The Time Lords shouldn't have any say in where we go, or what path we decide to take. You know as well as I do...I'll never truly be one of _them."_ The Doctor was dreadfully silent for a few minutes more before he spoke again.

"Romana?" he asked to confirm she was still listening to him. What he said next totally took her by surprise. "I think it's about time I fixed the Chameleon Circuit."

"Well..." she began hesitantly, "...shall we get to it?"

"I don't think we should do it _here,"_ the Doctor backtracked, quickly explaining before Romana could interrupt. "I'd probably make a mess of it. No...I think we need to go to Logopolis..."

* * *

**A/N: So...what did you think of the use of the faces of every Doctor from One to Eleven (including the Warrior)? The reason I chose to do that is simple; in my mind, the Watcher is what the Doctor represents...all he is, all he was, and all he will be - in other words, the very essence of what it means to be the Doctor. Please feel welcome to leave an opinion in a review...but please keep it pleasant. Then again, that last part should really go without saying, shouldn't it?**


	9. The Cloister Bell

The Cloister Bell

**The** Doctor was pacing around the ivy-clad Cloister Room of the TARDIS, with Romana sat on a nearby stone bench. This place might be the oldest-looking part of the TARDIS, but it was certainly the best place to think. But the Doctor's train of thought was interrupted when Adric entered.

"Doctor?" he asked uncertainly.

But the only reply was thusly; "Chameleon Circuit."

"What?" Adric questioned in confusion. But this time, it was Romana who answered.

"A little quiet please, Adric," she told the boy. "The Doctor's just thinking something over. If you want, you can tell me."

"Unless it's _terribly_ urgent, in which case you could always ring the Cloister Bell," the Doctor finished for her.

"The Cloister Bell?" Adric asked again, to which Romana nodded. "What's that?"

"A Communications Device, reserved for wild catastrophes _only,"_ the Time Lady told him. "Though the Doctor would add in sudden calls to 'man the Battle Stations,'" she added wryly, just for the sake of winding the older Time Lord up.

"But the TARDIS doesn't have Battle Stations," the Alzarian replied, once again confused.

"True – that's just a euphemism for 'get to your post,'" Romana explained. At this, Adric finally nodded in understanding and took a seat on the bench.

"I sometimes think I should be running a tighter ship," the Doctor told them.

"I, on the other hand, _always_ think you should be running a tighter ship," Romana told him slyly. The Doctor swivelled round to protest, but she silenced him before he could even begin. "You know I'm right, Doctor – wonderful though she is, the TARDIS _is_ falling apart." She turned to Adric to explain it to him. "Entropy increases."

"Entropy increases?" Adric repeated.

"Yes, daily – the more you keep putting things together, the more they keep falling apart," the Doctor offered the layman's explanation. "That's the essence of the Second Law of Thermodynamics, and I never heard a truer word spoken." He came over to take his seat on the bench. "These days, the Time Column is wheezing like a grampus."

"But it _will_ keep us away from Gallifrey, won't it?" Adric asked him, looking for confirmation. He knew all about the fact that Romana didn't want to go back to the homeworld of the Time Lords.

"Provided they don't track us down, yes," Romana told him. "Which is why our focus is on the Chameleon Circuit. But I might not be able to fix it in time for us to become untraceable to the Time Lords. So we're going to try a quickfix...or so the Doctor says."

No protest came from the Doctor's mouth – instead, he just changed the trail of the conversation. "I have a place in mind that's on the way – well, given a parsec or two. It's my home from home. It's called...Earth."

*DW*

**"Earth's** the planet with all the oceans, isn't it?" Adric asked the two Time Lords.

"Yes," Romana told him, her tone of voice one of fond remembrance. "My first visit there was a city called Paris – the Capital City of a country called France, which was arguably the best city I've ever seen."

"Sadly, that's not where we need to go if we want to fix the Chameleon Circuit," the Doctor cut in. "We need to head to Britain – the country where these blue boxes came from."

"TARDISes?" Adric asked, once again flummoxed.

"No, they're just what the TARDIS looks like," Romana corrected him. "They were elementary Communications Devices in the Time Period called the 1960s Anno Domini Calendar System. By the Time Period we're heading for, the 1980s, they are almost completely obsolete to the Law Enforcement."

"But there are some in the North that are still in use," the Doctor reminded her.

"We've got Communications Devices," Adric added.

"But _not_ a police box," the Time Lord told him.

"A police box?"

"That's what the current mathematical model of the TARDIS exterior is based upon, Adric," Romana told the boy.

"I'd like to see Earth, but why go all that way just to look at something that looks like the TARDIS?"

"Because I want to measure it," replied the Doctor.

"Whatever for?"

"Block Transfer Computation," Romana explained. The Doctor had told her about his plan to ask the Logopolitans to fix the Chameleon Circuit. While she wouldn't tell him, it was a sound plan...for the most part. "The natives of Logopolis – which is where we're going afterwards, by the way – can use it to create a mathematical model of the TARDIS exterior and overlay it onto the Outer Plasmic Shell."

Just then, a deep-sounding bell rang throughout the TARDIS – this was the sound of the Cloister Bell. Romana felt ill when she heard it – that ill feeling was the thought that maybe they hadn't been thorough enough freeing Traken from the Master...


End file.
